As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
As information handling systems have become more commonplace, consumers are influenced by numerous factors in making purchases of information handling systems. While information handling system performance and capacity (e.g., processor speed, memory, non-volatile storage, peripherals, etc.) are often factors influencing consumer choices, consumers are increasingly factoring in aesthetics of information handling systems into their choices. For example, consumers often prefer information handling systems that have a more sleek or “clean” aesthetic design. To respond to such consumer demand, it is desirable to produce information handling systems that do not include many fasteners (e.g., screws, bolts, etc.), slots, or openings substantially visible from the outside of the information handling system. However, such aesthetic designs do not easily lend themselves to use of traditional approaches.
For example, traditional approaches to providing user-accessible card interfaces (e.g., interfaces for Subscriber Identity Module cards or “SIM cards”) while maintaining desirable aesthetics, particularly in portable computers and other mobile devices, have numerous problems and disadvantages. According to one traditional approach, a user may remove a cover or panel from a mobile device (typically from the back surface of the mobile device) in order to expose the card interface. However, such an approach may not be aesthetically pleasing, as it typically requires a removable cover or panel that has an area equal to or larger to the area formed by the length and width of the card, and such panel and/or the means for removing it may be aesthetically unpleasing.
To reduce the portion of surface area of a device required to provide card interface access, another approach involves use of a carrier for a card, such that the card may be placed in the carrier, positioned substantially parallel to a plane defined by the length and width of the device and slid in into a side of the device nonparallel to the plane, thus requiring an opening slightly larger than the area created by the width and thickness of the card. The carrier may include or be attached to a cover, such that when the carrier is engaged with the device, the cover substantially aligns with the surface of the side of the device into which the tray was placed, thus creating a smooth or sleek look on the outside of the device. However, a disadvantage of this approach is that it may require strict alignment of the card connector internal to the device and the exterior surfaces of the device, such that the card may rest properly in the connector and the cover may rest flush with the exterior surface. Such requirement of strict alignment may require manufacturing processes with very low tolerances, which may increase manufacturing complexity and cost. If such strict alignment is not used, mechanical misalignment stress between the connector and the card carrier may be induced, which may potentially lead to damage of the card carrier or connector. In addition, if such strict alignment is not used, electrical contacts of the card and electrical contacts of the connector may not align properly while the cover rests flush with the exterior surface, potentially leading to inoperability.